Korean Americans

A decade ago, she was an anomaly: a 20-year-old from Korea whose golf game articulated what her limited English could not. Se Ri Pak did not know then that becoming the youngest to win the U.S. Women's Open would inspire droves of Koreans and Korean Americans to dream of the LPGA. Inbee Park was among them. Last year, when she clinched the U.S. Open title at age 19, she earned Pak's previous title and humbly filled the shoes of her idol. Park's story echoes dozens on the tour.

Hongsun Kim has heard it all. When the number of Koreans began multiplying in Little Tokyo Towers a few years ago, complaints about them from Japanese residents quickly began to surface, the Los Angeles social worker said. "They smell of garlic." "They don't follow the rules." "They're going to take over." Then, from the Koreans: "The Japanese are snooty." "They don't greet you in the elevator." "They disdain Korean culture." "They're trying to push us out."

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, reaching out to hundreds of thousands of Koreans in Southern California, said Saturday that his government is preparing a new initiative to enable Korean Americans to enjoy the privileges of dual citizenship. Technically, it will not be called that because of possible thorny legal ramifications, such as mandatory military service in South Korea, he said in an interview.

When Los Angeles radio journalist Richard Choi went to Seoul in December to cover the South Korean presidential election, he planned on staying no more than a week. Two months later, after his arrest and conviction for slander--and the international controversy surrounding it--Choi returned home Friday, weary from his unforeseen extended stay. The popular Radio Korea talk show host was jailed Dec. 19 after he broadcast a story about the rumored financial problems of a rival media company.

A candlelight vigil scheduled tonight to pressure the Korean Government to release imprisoned journalist Richard Choi may not occur because the Los Angeles resident could be freed before the event begins, a Korean government spokesman said. Choi, a talk show host based in Los Angeles, was arrested Dec. 19, four days after he reported rumors that Hyundai Motor Co. and a multimedia giant were about to merge.

Citing his own "incompetence" for "presenting a very, very meager case," the attorney for a 23-year-old woman convicted of conspiring to kill her identical twin asked a Superior Court judge to grant his client a new trial or at least reduce the charges. Jeen Han and two teenage co-defendants were scheduled to be sentenced Friday, but the matter was delayed until March 6 to give the prosecution time to respond to the lengthy court documents Deputy Public Defender Roger Alexander filed Thursday.

To mark the 48th anniversary of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's recapture of Seoul from Communist forces, Korean Americans spent an evening cleaning up MacArthur Park and, for good measure, feeding the poor. "What better way to honor the great American," said Nam-Tai Cho, president of the Korean Veterans Assn.'s Western region and organizer of the Monday event. "As one who works in nearby Koreatown, I always feel sad that the statue of such a great man is surrounded by trash."

When Sekyong Hong first laid eyes on Rudy Castillo in the Koreatown grocery store where they worked, she figured he was like most other non-Koreans who couldn't understand her language, customs and people. Still, she admitted to herself, "He was very handsome." Dating him was out of the question, Hong thought. What would her father think? He accepted only Korean boyfriends. But Castillo wasn't like most non-Koreans in Koreatown.

Jeen "Gina" Han remained hospitalized under guard Wednesday after attempting suicide earlier in the week, and a sheriff's spokesman said she may have tried to kill herself by swallowing over-the-counter pain pills. Sheriff's Lt. Hector Rivera said Han told investigators and doctors that she had taken "several" Tylenol pills that made her ill and vomit. However, Rivera said that jail officials are still investigating the incident and have not confirmed whether Han took Tylenol or sleeping pills.